The world is now in peace thanks to the Double Riders defending it from GelShocker but right now, a new threat has arrived to ruin this peace… and Shiro Kazami ended up getting involved with it by accident. Yep, this is the first episode of Kamen Rider V… 3!
To those who are expecting that we will see a lot of V3 action in the first episode, let me break it to ya, but no. V3 only made his formal appearance at the near end of the episode while his human form, Shiro appearance most of the time in this episode so let’s talk about Shiro.
Shiro Kazami is living a normal life with his family and it seems that he has close ties with his younger sister (for Kamen Rider W fans, imagine Shiro is Terui) until one day, he saw a man melt in a street corner besides a manhole. That event changed his life that started the bad guys trying to kill him not once, but four times! I find Shiro in the first episode a little plain until at the near end of the episode in which he is willing to give up his humanity just to defeat the bad guys. I guess I should watch the next ep for me to see more of Shiro’s personality.
Since V3 made a short appearance in this episode, I will comment on his design. His mouthpiece is a little distracting but the belt design is gorgeous! The giant V in the middle and the two windmills on the side gave a good implication that he is better than his seniors are! As for his overall body design, it looks good.
For the entire episode, I love that Oya-san and the Double Riders are a little relaxed in this episode. It clearly gives a sign that the world is at peace and they have nothing to worry about and as the episode progress, their doubts of the world being at peace is increasing, and them being relaxed changed as they worry on how to protect Shiro from his attackers!
For V3's origin story, for starters, V3 is the first Rider who is modified into a cyborg because he is about to die. My first impression about this is that, I find it pretty neat. I mean, he wants to become a cyborg in the first place to avenge his family and because he has proven his worth when he almost died in saving the Double Riders, I guess it is good that they modified Shiro into V3.
If there is a scene in this episode that I love, that would be how Scissors Jaguar killed Shiro’s family. It was strong scene that I find it one of the most iconic scenes in the Kamen Rider franchise especially the scenes after it where Shiro swears revenge against Destron.
For the fights, it is standard Old School Kamen Rider action. The suit acting has this heroic feel that I find missing in newer Kamen Rider shows and the action found in this episode has good stunt coordination. Since the effects are a little old school, I will reserve my comments on this.
Overall, the first episode never felt like V3’s show even if it is credited in the opening sequence, but more like Shiro Kazami with the Double Riders getting all the action. But it was a good premise and it show's promise. The fact that the Double Riders are in it gave us a good transition between the veterans with the newbie. Can't wait on how they will pass the torch on V3!
On the next review, we will have V3 kicking ass... finally!